Tag Archives: get rich

How To Stop Screwing Up and How To Start Getting What You Want Most In Life

change what is going on within you

“This is the method for you to begin creating what you want the most in life.

Determine what you want that you must have! What is it you want that you are totally passionate about? What were you born to do? What is your ultimate chief purpose in life? What trips your trigger? See it in your mind’s eye. See it as detailed as possible. Use all of the senses. See it in full color, a movie, sights and sounds, feelings tastes and smells. Make it a complete sensory experience.

Write it down in detail with a deadline date. It is said there are no unrealistic goals only unrealistic deadlines. What is a realistic timeframe for you to get everything you desire? Put down the date.

Think about all of this in your mind as though you already have it. Your deadline came to pass you got everything you wanted what is it like to be living this dream now? How does it feel? What do you look, sound and feel like? What do you say to yourself? What are others saying about you? Immerse yourself in this ‘future, present’ reality where you are and have and are doing every thing you wanted. Savor it.

Do this daily imagine it fully and vividly. Plus, read what you wrote down. Be excited about it, enthusiastic. Be as a little kid waiting on holiday gifts. You know fully the gifts are coming and you just can’t wait. You are so eager, Live with passion and enthusiasm and confidence it making your future come true.

Focus on what you want, see it clearly in your mind’s eye.  Focus on WHY you want it. Think about and list all the positive reasons you must have this come to pass. Explore how you and others will be better as a result. Remember your future can come to pass more swiftly if you do no harm and others benefit as a result of you making your dreams come true. When they win AND you win then everyone can help each other. It is said, ‘you can have anything you want in life when you help others get what they want in life’. Remember this. Apply the Golden Rule.

Focus on what want and why you want it instead of on HOW you are going to get it and you will be much happier. The how will come along even though you can’t yet see it. The how will come about as a result of your thinking about it and concentrating about it day and night. You hold the positive image in your mind and charge it with your positive energy and feelings and as you do your whole being is filled with it. Plans and notions, insights and intuitions will begin to come your way. Take notice.

Practice present day gratitude and thankfulness. Appreciate what you have, where you have been. Be thankful for all of life’s challenges, lessons and opportunities. Celebrate all the positive and what you do have. Focus on abundance and not on lack. Focus on manifesting your dreams not problems or issues in the present.

Even if everything crumbles around you stay focused on what it is you want.

Do not get caught up in how you can’t yet see how you will do it. No one knows how they will do anything until after the complete it. So focus on what and why. Concentrate on all the happy, joyous, wonderful moments and not on how and you WILL manifest what you want.

im a product of my decisions

You get what you expect in life. Expect good things!  Even if you can’t see them or can’t yet see how you will have them, expect good things and you will get good things. Expect the worst, because crap is happening around you, and you will get more of what you expect.

Stay focused and do not give up. Expect it and you will have it. The future belongs to you. You create the future with your present thoughts so think the very best.

I have shared many different aspects of creating your future and what you may wish to do. I have discussed what to do if you have any difficulty. Go back and re-visit and re-read frequently. You can do this! You can make all your dreams come true. Have faith and have faith in yourself. More Next Time!” Rex Sikes

In how many different ways do you suppose you can you discover yourself delighting in today that put a smile on your lips?

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Are You Waiting For Paradise? What Are You Waiting For? Part 3 The Past

past present future

WOW! Then the past became clear to me.

Everything I had ever done or thought, successfully or not, was a pathway to this moment. In retrospect, every decision could be seen to have brought me to this present moment right here. Whether it actually is a charted pathway to now or simply haphazard doesn’t matter it is the meaning we assign to it. I don’t care to debate the reality of the past. In the light of this new understanding I could look back and see how events in my life worked or did not work to bring me to this moment.

THIS AWARENESS brought another awareness. No matter what I may have suffered, lost, or didn’t take advantage of all of it was valuable to who I am today. No matter how I failed or succeeded, no matter what I was unlucky in or was lucky in all of it were stepping stones on the pathway.

EVERYTHING from my past good and bad I could appreciate in some fashion because it was part of the road to this realization. I could celebrate successes and failures, great times and tragedies and learn from all.

some things fall apart so things come together

My thinking underwent profound changes. Life altering realizations flooded me. Some changes in thinking were instantaneous while others came about over many weeks and many years. Most came about because I immersed myself in positive and inspirational material and made a commitment to find the best thoughts to think daily. The insights came about because I was changing myself. I was working at it and gaining new understandings as a result of my efforts.

My life changed when I decided to be in charge of my thinking and feelings. I decided to choose the best thoughts and the best feelings I could find each day. I decided to stop leaving things to chance and to stop living like a victim to anything. No longer would I be like that bobbing cork.

I would fill every moment I could with the best that I could find. It might not always be the most glorious but it would be the best I could do at the moment. I would do this without criticizing myself for the job I was doing. After all, I was no expert, I was learning to do this and learning to stay focused so I should treat myself with respect and love and gentleness while in this process. I was a neophyte, a beginner, a child in the school of self improvement.

I learned that progress is quicker without trying to manage it or critique it. We evolve faster when we give ourself permission to make mistakes and accept them as a natural part of growing. Every baker has burned a loaf of bread at times. Why should I think I won’t somewhere screw up? Accept it and go on without making a big deal out of it. Relax, do the work, and let go. I moved slow and steady. I nurture myself along as if an toddler. It is better while learning to praise than to punish.

attitude difference between ordeal and adventure

I learned to nurture change gently. It was extremely difficult at times and exceptionally easy at other times. Challenges came along. They always do. When I realized difficulties were opportunities to grow even stronger through adversity I embraced them. I encountered difficult people and when I could I would think of the Golden Rule and apply it I did. This became very important because I DO want to get back what I put out – so I want it to be the very best. I want to attract the best people to gather around me.

I learned life is too short to suffer, whine, complain and be annoyed by people and circumstances. I realized this is my life AND I want to make it what I want it to be. I use the Garden Of Eden analogy. According to my version of this Biblical story we were meant to live in paradise.

We were designed for and meant to live in paradise but because of our actions (our thoughts) we don’t. Still paradise was intended for us.

Heaven and hell exist inside us. We make our life whatever it is by what we choose to pay attention to. Very little suffering actually comes from the outside of us (but there are physical realities). Most of our suffering is a result of how we react to circumstances and people and our very own thoughts and feelings. In many ways, exactly how much we suffer is up to us. We know that people may respond very differently to similar circumstances. One persons floor is another person’s ceiling.

SO I decided to stop focusing on reasons I suffer and to begin making my life a return to paradise.

But why wait? Paradise shouldn’t be a far off possibility but immediate pleasure. If I want to live in paradise then I have to begin living it right now. This is why it is important to make the present as remarkable as it can be.

We make the present incredible when we appreciating everything. EVERYTHING! We accept we allow and we learn from everything. We forgive and truly forgive. We appreciate all from the past, we decide to live as champions not merely as survivors.

If you are reading this today then you have been succeeding along. You have been doing extremely well even if you don’t think so yet. You are here and that is a testimony to your strength. For some, they have demonstrated amazing strength others may have had it easier. No matter, you are here today reading this because you have succeeded in getting here. That is worth noting for yourself.

forgive yourself for not knowing

Accept the past, heal the past, appreciate where it has brought you. No matter what the journey was like before you are right here.

What tomorrow is like you will determine today.

If your present isn’t everything you want it to be you NOW have the chance to make it so. You can begin to make your present unbelievably wonderful while creating a more marvelous future.

It is time to stop being a victim, if that is how you have lived, and start being a victor.

There is the saying ‘if it is to be it is up to me’ and that is the truth. It is up to each of us. When I realized this (and the other realizations I mentioned) my life began to transform.

I am still a work in progress. I am not complete and not perfect. Perfection is not a goal anyway. I don’t want anything perfect. I am what and who I am. I have been learning I can enjoy that. I can celebrate and become even more awesome. Nothing is lacking and nothing is complete all at the very same time. Yes, I still experience challenges and need to look for the hidden opportunities but life is so much better today!! It can be for you too if it is not already.

think continually about what you want

The past and present and future all simultaneously co-habit this moment, oddly enough.

Learn to appreciate where you have been. Validate the journey you have traveled. Celebrate where you are at this moment as you move into the future. You will arrive at the destination you have chosen for yourself. Stay positive, stay optimistic, expect the best, keep focused on what you want and all that is wonderful. Each day do the little things you can to make each moment miraculous and your life will transform in ways you can’t even begin to imagine. Yes, your life will transform because YOU will be the one transforming it.

There is no reason to wait for paradise. Begin enjoying it right now. This world is your garden. Plant and nurture the wonderful things you want to have more of.

Everything begins with the thought you think. Choose your thoughts wisely. Plant good seeds. Celebrate the process and embrace the miraculous. I’ll share more later! Meanwhile, enjoy!” Rex Sikes

It is your day to make marvelous? What are you going to do about it?

 

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Life Is About Creating Yourself

life is about creating yourself

“You have the opportunity to make your life what you want it to be. You can become anything you want to become. It is all up to you and no one else. It is up to you to create the ‘you’ you want to be. You may not have realized it but it is your decision, it IS within your control and it is your responsibility.

Some people live as if they have no choice, no power and as if life is whatever comes along. They live haphazardly. They accept whatever life offers but they don’t like it. They wish it were otherwise.

If you want it to be different the fact of the matter is you can make it different. It is completely up to you.

Take charge, make the decision to be the person you have always wanted to be.

Take control of your thoughts because when you do you will take control of your feelings too. Take charge of your feelings and you will take charge of your thoughts. It works both ways. When you align your thoughts and feelings your actions come into harmony with your purpose and your desire.

I am in charge and I am choosing

When your thoughts, feelings and actions are in harmony with your purpose you begin to powerfully create. You become like a targeted laser beam. Then you live with power, with confidence, with purpose and you can achieve whatever you put your mind to. You go after your goals with full commitment. Nothing stops you. You keep going until you accomplish what you set out to do.

When you are congruent in mind and body, when your thoughts and feelings are aligned, your energy is directed and not wasted.

You can clearly imagine the ‘you’ you have always wanted to be. You can see the life you want to enjoy in your mind. When who you are, or who you want to become and what you want in life are crystal clear and concise in your mind then you are able accomplish it. Then all your energy is freed up and focused on what you want.

When you are focus in this manner all your energies are concentrated on bringing it into being. You are not divided. You are whole. YOu are congruent. You are complete.

Your focus is established. You are determined.  You believe in what you want to accomplish and your abilities to accomplish it. You have complete faith that sometime soon this will be!

With this mind set you are able to persevere. You are better equipped to deal with challenges and never give up. You recognize difficulties as opportunities to get feedback. You learn from tough times and mistakes because your entire being is in ‘go’ mode and you are moving forward to making your dream come true.

forget why it wont believe why it will

Most people live tossed about in many directions. They are happy one moment and worried the next. They are determined one day and fearful and exhausted a few days later. They do not understand that if they want to make something happen they need to manage their thoughts and their emotions. If they want to make something happen then they need to make it happen. It will come about by the power of your will.

It may take some time to bring your thoughts, feelings and actions  under your direction but it is absolutely worth it. If you aren’t running the show the question is who is?

I liken the mind to breaking a wild horse.

The horse is beautiful and powerful and runs wild doing whatever it wants. To break a horse is to train it and give it purpose. The purpose you have for it. (Whether in life this is a good thing to do to an animal is not part of this discussion. My point is about the practice of training the horse). You teach it and you correct it. You repeat it and in time the animal learns what you want it to do. You carry this process out until the horse is dependable. It takes some time and some effort but when the training is complete you reap the rewards.

mind powerful

It is true for us too when we bring our thoughts and feelings under control. We spend time in training to be able to do what we want to do. We get the training to be able to carry out the goals and purpose of the training.

We train ourselves to go after what we want. We train ourselves to carry out the actions necessary to get the results we want.YES, it takes some effort at first but when once trained all that energy is the aimed at accomplishing our goal.

Train your mind, harness your spirit and make your life what you want. Create yourself!”

Rex Sikes

Have a delightful day and enjoy new ideas and opportunities.

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Learn to Wait and Wait Well! Then You Will Get It!

be patient things will chan ge for the better

“It is said, that ‘Patience is not the ability to wait, but the the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting’. (Joyce Meyer). How true that is.

When we begin to create a new life and future for ourselves by keeping focused on positive thoughts and feelings things inside us begin to change. They do! But they may not change fast enough or we may not see indications of these changes right away. We set a goal and work towards it but the outcome is not readily apparent.

This is understandable. When you plant a seed it takes time to grow. It grows in the invisible darkness underground for quite some time before it breaks through the ground and reaches toward the sun. Farmers know that there is a time for planting and a time for harvesting. You don’t plant Monday and harvest Tuesday. Seeds sown take time to grow.

So it is with all good things. We focus our attention consciously on what we want, we maintain it positively and infuse it with positive wonderful feelings and we wait.

It may seem like nothing is happening out there in the real world. Our inner world is transforming but we don’t see the results yet.

Well, they will come in time as long as you remain true. As long as you remain committed and continue to focus your life will change and you will eventually see the positive results come to be. SO maintain a positive attitude.

It takes time for the artist to conceive of the painting and complete it. However long that process is (or isn’t) it still takes some time. Nothing is instant. A building is still made brick by brick. Can you imagine how long it must have seemed to lay the track and create the East West railroad in the U.S.? Can you imagine the hardships endured to make that railroad a reality? It certainly wasn’t easy and it didn’t happen over night.

‘For everything there is a season’. It takes time so hang in there.

We become what we think about most of the time. We are today where our thoughts have brought us. We will be tomorrow where our thoughts take us. If you can see it in your head you can hold it in your hand.

And it takes time.

That is why the quote I cited in the very beginning is so relevant.  Patience is not the ability to wait, but the the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting’.

We always have to wait but how we wait matters.

We need to keep the faith and believe it will happen and not lose site of what we are positively creating. We must keep going even when it does not appear that anything is happening or changing. We stay focused on the positive images and feelings. We know there will come a time when we will harvest the seeds we planted. These seeds are currently growing.

‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ Faith is knowing that the invisible processes are taking place. Faith is knowing they are taking place even when we can see them. Faith is knowing that somehow it will all work out okay even when there is no reason to actually think that it will. In other words we can’t see what we can’t see yet.

We live by faith that the processes we initiated will continue to grow and come to fruition. We live by faith that we will accomplish our goals no matter what. We will go after and get what we want even if it appears that nothing is changing. We will stick with it no matter how many obstacles or challenges rise up in front of us to prevent us from reaching.

We need to believe and know that we will.

That is attitude! That is a positive determined attitude!! ‘If you can conceive it and believe it you can achieve it’.

You can’t let circumstances get you down. Even if everything is presently crumbling around you stay focused on what you want to make happen for yourself. Do not give in to the temptation to give up or feel bad. Stay strong, stay positive and feel your best. You will come through it but you must know that you will.

You can’t look back, you can’t look at the difficulty you must look ahead to what will be. You must stay focused on the future you want to create for yourself.

This is why we train our minds to remain positive so that no matter what occurs we live with the very best positive attitude. Attitude is everything.

It doesn’t matter what you don’t have you stay focused on what you want. Let’s say you want a brand new car, just as an example. Give yourself permission to want it and to have it. Accept that it is going to be yours because you deserve it. Imagine yourself driving it, see it, notice how good it feels to be in the driver’s seat your hands on the wheel. Smell it, hear what you are saying to yourself and thinking as your drive around in it. See it in your driveway. Imagine living with it. Doesn’t it look and feel great?

NOW it doesn’t matter if you don’t have money or a job, and have mounds of debt. None of that matters. NONE of it!!!

YOU focus on WHAT –  YOU –  WANT.

You keep the images alive and the feelings great because even if things currently suck (to use a scientific term) you still are entitled to get your dream car. I hope this makes sense. Many people will think ‘wow things suck so I will never be able to get my dream car’. That is not the attitude to have.

You have to keep the faith. You have to stay focused and not waiver. Believe that no matter what some day you will have the car you want. Feel great about having the car! Enjoy and savor these feelings. Keep it alive and stay passionate about it.

What you are doing is waiting well.

You have set your mind on course, in a direction, and you are traveling in that direction no matter which way the wind blows. When you keep the focus and the energy on what you want you are literally telling yourself ‘figure out how to make this happen’.

That servo-mechanism I mentioned in previous posts takes over and works at getting it. Your brain works on making a plan finding the opportunities to earn the car. Most probably it isn’t going to be magically given to you but by staying focused on your goal and not giving in to negative feelings or thoughts you optimize your chances to figure out how to get it in the future.

It takes time. However long it takes is what it takes. So…

If you have to wait, and you will, you might as well wait well.

I repeat: You have to keep the faith. You have to stay focused and not waiver. Believe that no matter what some day you will have the car you want.You can’t look back, you can’t look at the difficulty you must look ahead to what will be. You must stay focused on the future you want to create for yourself. Feel great about having the car! Enjoy and savor these feelings.

I used the example of a car to try to provide you with something you could easily imagine – a possession. It could be anything you want for yourself.

We become what we think about most of the time. We are today where our thoughts have brought us. We will be tomorrow where our thoughts take us. If you can see it in your head you can hold it in your hand. And it takes time.

Be patient! You will make it happen!” Rex Sikes

Make your day and all your thought outstanding!

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Why this? Why Now? Positivity? Really?

positive mind, vibes, life

I’ve been up for 10 hours, fed my self, then my son, and have been working on today’s Daily Inspiration and Gratitude blog. I will publish it soon.

I don’t consider myself a writer. Nope, not at all. Some of you are going, ‘well Rex if truth be told, nope you are definitely not a writer.’  You would be correct.

I am simply sharing my discoveries in life as I would share them over coffee with a friend. Okay, so yes, you have to get your own coffee too.

Some of these thoughts come from my books in progress or my other works. These blogs are written somewhat extemporaneously off the top of my mind, without the benefit of heavy editing. Yes, I go back to smooth some things out but having an actual editor OR learning to write and edit better may be preferable.

These blogs are rough. The lack of elegance or eloquence is not accidental nor intentional it simply is.

Hopefully, these blogs are more conversational in the feel, but I know people have preferences when it comes to writing. I hope the style does not obscure the substance. I hope the messenger can deliver the message even when imperfect.

What I am sharing I think far outweighs how I am sharing it. Again, I know some people do judge a book by its cover and that is okay. These are my musings and there may not be any value at all to anyone. It is true to say another person may articulate the concept better or more efficiently than I. Certainly.

Whatever the case, I wanted to share with those who may enjoy this sort of material and this sort of approach.

This daily blog take lots of time and effort even in the form it is. It is something I chose to do.

I hope you find value in the thoughts shared here. I hope my words touch you in positive ways. I hope that you live your life better and make your dreams come true. For me, this is what it is about, after all is said and done.

Can we live a life worth having? Can we love and enjoy being loved? If we have only one go around then why not find the way to most enjoy it and help make it great for others the best we are able? Can we create a wonderful life and a wonderful world for everyone?

These are questions I find important. We should ask ourselves questions that stimulate us to positive actions.

The purpose of this blog is to help us ask the questions that bring us more wonderful results and better answers.

So what can you do today for yourself and for others that will put a smile on your face and on theirs? More tomorrow.” Rex Sikes

Have an incredible day!

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Train Your Mind – It Works!!! Part 2

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“… I discovered that the wonderful things don’t come from having more things. It comes from being more wonderful. It comes from having less stress, depression, anxiety, anger, frustration. It comes from taking the bull by the horns and deciding to do something for myself and to keep on doing it no matter what. I decided I would  never ever quit or give up. If I had to boot strap it I would, if the going got tough if I had to be tough I would get going. I decided that the end result was worth the price, whatever that price was I had to pay. AND it is! I am getting so much more back than I pay for it is incredible!

Part 2

I have used the analogy of a buffet. You put on your plate what you like and enjoy, that which brings you pleasure and whatever you don’t want or don’t like you leave it on the buffet table. You delight in what is on your plate.  You don’t sit there thinking about the food you do not care for. You do not lament that you don’t like brussel sprouts, or broccoli or whatever. I mean, this should make sense to most people I would think. At the buffet you focus on enjoying what you like. You go to get the foods you like not to worry about what you don’t want. You never even give it a second thought.

I have learned to treat myself as if a baby or at best a toddler. I have a pet phrase I have used for decades when conducting seminars and workshops and that is, ‘You don’t punt the baby’. When you have a child learning motor skills, whether learning to walk or feed itself, you nurture and encourage the child, you get all excited and act weird. If the child falls or misses its mouth with a spoon you don’t punt it out of the room and scream at it and shame it, you don’t if you love it. No, you encourage it to continue in the behavior you want the child to learn. When the child does anything close to what you want it to learn you get wildly enthusiastic, goofy even so that the child feels wonderful.

So when I screw up I  think of myself as a baby learning anything new and encourage myself instead of criticizing myself. Instead of thinking of myself as stupid or useless and never able to learn, I celebrate the awareness I have that I recognized I was off base, and give myself a pat on the back. Then gently, positively I steer myself back on track. It is much nicer being gentle, loving and kind to me. Hey, I was an expert in self criticism I just decided to stop that and do something better for myself.

See, I am just making my way through this world like anyone else. I decided though at one point that  I was going to act as if I were totally in charge of everything that happens to me, whether that is actually the case or not. Did you read that and get it. I decided to act as if I were totally in charge of everything. In control, me and no one else. That means I alone am accountable and responsible for everything good and bad. It means I am the creator, everything I have or don’t have is because of me. (Whether this is actually true or not, I decided I was going to adopt this frame of mind and live as IF IT IS the case).

What happened when I began to live this way is everything changed. It is as if I am actually in charge. I create everything. Good, bad I create it.

Whether this is true or not doesn’t matter to me. Let’s say I am pretending to be in charge. By pretending to be in charge I am making positive choices for myself every moment I can.

Why?

Because I am the person in charge. I am the creator so I need to decide what I want. I need to decided how I want to think and feel. I decided what I want to be, who I am and what I do and have. It is all up to me. Since I AM IN CHARGE I  chose the very best.

When things happen I chose how to respond. I determine what I will pay attention to and focus on and feel.

Do you know what? I am a work in process. Sometimes I do better than at other times but, as I have stated, I adjust for it and gently steer back. Yes, I repeated myself because I am attempting to point out, as all my friends and family know, I am not perfect. I am not perfect by any means but now I have choice.

It is absolutely freeing.

Instead of blaming others, I look at what I can adjust about myself to think or feel better about it. I put a guardian at the gate, and make it a point to only think and speak about things that bless, heal and help prosper. I am protective of my thoughts and feelings. I like the positive attitude and the feelings that come from it so I want to preserve these and encourage these. I want more of it.

It wasn’t easy to begin thinking and doing these things but it is easier now. I have trained my mind to find the good in every situation. I have trained my mind to be my own best friend and to act in my own best interests instead of running wild or acting randomly. I have trained my mind.

I like it when I write that or say ‘I have trained my mind’, because at one time I was a victim of my own thoughts and feelings.  NOW I have choices. Actually, I may have always had the same choices and others available, but I was unaware of them so I never chose them. Previously, I did not know to exercise my choices. Now I do and now I choose.

I said before that when things go awry and crap happens I don’t have to choose to be unhappy. I can choose to be happy regardless of what is going on. If all of everything around me is crumbling it DOES NOT MEAN that I have to be unhappy about it. It doesn’t mean that at all because I have learned that my real happiness is not related to what happens but rather to who I am. It is who I am not what goes on where my happiness is.

I stay focused on creating what I want, attracting it and manifesting it. Call it what you want, I stay focused on what I want to be and have instead of noticing what isn’t there yet. I learned that if I worry I attract and/or create more worry. Unhappiness attracts more unhappiness. Worrying about not having enough money doesn’t help me have or create more money it only keeps me in a state of poverty. Being dissatisfied only creates less satisfaction.

Instead I focus on what I want. I focus on being happy because happiness creates more happiness. Love attracts more love, gratitude attracts more gratitude, kindness attracts more kindness. I want to fill my life with what I want, I want to become these, feel these and have theses. Success attracts more success, money attracts more money, peace attracts more peace. So I focus on these, am grateful for these and think on these things. We become what we think about.

So even when things are not presently going my way, my training is to stay focuses on what I want to create instead of what I don’t want. I stay focused on what I want to become and do and have instead of what I don’t have. This keeps me in an action phase and provides me with the opportunity to continue to move forward instead of wallowing in being stuck and forlorn.

Maybe, all I am thinking and doing is a fantasy, a lie, a delusion. So what?

If everything I am thinking is a lie, I prefer it this way.

Some people talk about the law of attraction, they say ‘be positive, think what you want and you will attract it, the universe will provide’. That scared me because I used to think ‘well what if I think it and it doesn’t happen then I will only be more disappointed.’ I did, I acutally used to think that.

I used to think, ‘ok I will think be positive, but I don’t want any religious infinite intelligence talk, or god is good talk, I don’t want to go there , I just want to make good things happen for me’. So don’t get metaphysical or magical with me, I don’t want to be surrounded by purple protective bubbles and amulets. I want practical, down to earth, scientific, everyday reality sort of thinking that if I engage in it is sure to happen so I won’t be disappointed.

You know what I found? Magic but not the new agey wacky flavor of the moment magic but real true transformative magic. I found that if I want it to be it is actually up to me. It is up to how I think and how I feel and what I do. It is up to me to create a plan, utilize my resources, partner with others and wish all good things because when I do I create for myself a better way to move through the world.

When I am feeling positive and wishing others well I am attracting positive feeling people who also wish others well. I am resonating with other like minded people who are seeking positive opportunities to create wonderful things in their own lives and the lives of others.

The magic isn’t outer magic it is inner magic. Inner magic relies on oneself to make adjustments in positive ways instead of expecting the world to conform to your wishes. Inner magic is about having control over yourself so that you think and act more clearly and are thus better able to recognize opportunities as they occur. Inner magic is being true to oneself and living positively no matter what occurs around oneself.  There is real magic but it isn’t the kind of fairy tale magic we grew up hoping for.

I am no expert. I live my life day to day.

I have more choices available to me now than ever before. Sometimes, I chose wisely and other times I don’t. Whenever, I find myself off track I steer back on and appreciate that I discovered I was off track. IN itself, this is a powerful way for me to live. I am now able to positively self correct instead of negatively beating myself up when off course.

When I am not busy self correcting on the course I am busy enjoying the journey. I am busy appreciating myself and the people around me. I find small and large things to be thankful for throughout the day and that contributes to my overall well being. The journey is no longer a burden but a pleasure. Instead of looking for mistakes, things that are wrong or unjust I look for miracles each day, large or small, to celebrate. Why? Because we get what we focus on. We attract or we create what we think about. Do you get it? If not, some day you will.

We become whatever we think about. What we can conceive and believe we can achieve. Whatever feelings I am feeling today inside of me I am attracting tomorrow. So I fill my mind with what I want for myself and that includes for others. I fill my mind and my being with  more happiness, love, peace, acceptance, joy, confidence, competence, talents and abilities, health, wealth, positive power and achievement.

I concentrate on these things. I daydream about them.  I make it a point to see them, entertain them in my mind. I talk about them to myself, and I fill my moments with as much that is good and feels good and benefits myself and everyone as I am able. I know more will come tomorrow because of what I am doing today.

I have trained my mind.

No, I am not perfect, nope not at all. Don’t have to be. I am happier, healthier, wealthier all around better off because I feel more joy, acceptance, love, enjoyment and all sorts of marvelous things. Life is grand. I am so happy I decided to train my mind. It is more than worth it, it is ever so valuable. It is absolutely priceless  because no matter what effort it takes to train it, you get back so much more, infinitely more!

What I discovered when I decided to train my mind is that it works! It really, truly, actually works.” Rex Sikes

More to come, enjoy the day. Discover what you might do today to begin to find more incredible ways to appreciate each moment. Delight and celebrate.

By the way – as you read these blogs, if they speak to your heart, I hope you will implement what I have been sharing. It is life transformative. Go back and read these blogs again and again.

Fill your mind with positive messages and become inspired. Inspire others too! Share and help others feel better not just because you get back what you put out there but just because… celebrate and enjoy!

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train your mind to see good

 

 

 

 

Don’t Let The Past Or The Present Define You – You Are So Much More!

sometimes smallest step is biggest step

Consider this, regardless of how bad it may have been, how difficult you have had it, you have made it through those times. You have! You have come this far in spite of everything attempting to hold you back. Whatever mistakes you may have made, poor decisions, ‘failures’ and disappointments you have had, any tragedies you encountered you still have made it to this moment, to right now. That is incredible because no matter what the odds have been you are here right now, and that is a testament to your ability to persist. Through everything you have stayed in there and made it through.

You may never have thought to do this, but you should pat yourself on the back, congratulate yourself and give yourself a big huge. It is time to celebrate all of this as an accomplishment. It is time to begin to see it differently in your mind’s eye and recognize the seeds of success all along the way. The journey may have been arduous but you have continued on AND you are still taking steps forward.

There is only one thing you need to understand. First, you are strong and you are tenacious. Though you may not have yet realized it you are stubborn enough to succeed at anything you put your mind to. Tough times build character. You have proven yourself tough too. Congratulations!

Second, do not let the past define you. Do not give power to the mistakes of the past. That is behind you. Since you have overcome significant challenges in the past build on that. Recognize this about yourself and BUILD on it.

Don’t let the present moment disappointments define you either. Do not let whatever is going on right now concern you. Instead think about the life you want to have instead. If you could make your greatest dream come true what would that be? What is it that would excite you and make you ecstatic? Picture this in your mind and focus on it.

No matter what is happening now that may be less than glorious, shift your focus to the time ahead. Be open to the possibility that things can get better for you. Be willing to explore a new way of being, and doing, and having.

It takes a mind that is willing to explore possibilities and expand options. Ask yourself what you might think and do differently. If you want things in your life to change you have to change things in your life. What can you begin to think and do differently that can move you in a positive direction? Build on this and realize you can accomplish so much more when you concentrate on the positive resources inside of you.

Our problems are not the problem! It is our thinking about our problems that is the problem. It is what we entertain and what we keep in our mind and how we are focused. Whatever we focus on expands, whatever we focus on is what we get. What we think about is what we become. Do not focus on past or present day limitations instead focus on what you want and how you can and will attain it. Have faith, keep believing and expecting it to get better. It will. Believe it!

Create wonderful thoughts and feelings about the future and imagine having all of it right now. Focus on these thoughts and these feelings. Find things to be grateful about and find the most wonderful good feelings you are able to. Nurture these, promote these. Keep doing this again and again.

Even a small change in the right direction is better than no change at all. If you are really sad it does not mean you have to feel overwhelming joy right now. Right now that may be too big a step. Find out what you can feel that would make you feel a bit better. Maybe that would be feeling anger or frustration or bored. Whatever is a baby step or two away from really sad IS a baby step toward finding that joy. inch yourself there if you must, but you must begin to inch away from the less than glorious feelings. Move yourself ever so slightly in the positive direction.

People talk about the Law of Attraction but the LOA is second to the Law of Vibration. How you are vibrating is what you are attracting. If you are filled with doubt, anxiety, fear and depression you tend to attract more or create more of these in your life. It is a downward spiral. When instead, you are filled with positive, powerful, joyful energy you are more in the right place to go after and get what you want to have.

It isn’t important to me whether it is about ‘vibrations’ at all. Some people find that concept to cosmic. I could care less. It is just words used to describe processes, so why get hung up over the choice of words.

I just understand that when I am feeling optimal I bring my best game to life and when I am not optimal things seem less than glorious. It is a simple concept to understand. Feel good and you get more good feelings, feel bad and you get more bad feelings. You are better off and more productive when feeling good and worse off and less productive when feeling bad. Get it.

Feeling good works better for us than feeling bad. SO find the ways and means to feel better. It is up to you, no one else can do it for you. It is not out of your hands, no cosmic zapper is going to fill you with great things magically. If you want to feel better you have to chose to take control. You have to decide to begin to act in your own best interests even if it is difficult. Start small, the pay off is huge. BUT YOU HAVE TO START. If you don’t you will keep on getting what you have been getting. It is that simple. It is that straightforward.

You want you life to change you have to change some things in your life!!!

Exercise, play, sing, dance, think better, walk, garden, meditate, repeat affirmations (the correct way would be useful) whatever you have to do to begin to feel better and think better more of the time – begin now to do it.

Thoughts and feelings go hand in hand. Your thoughts affect your feelings, you CAN think yourself happier it is true! AND your feelings affect your thoughts – you CAN change your body and activities and discover that you think more positively by how you stand, sit, walk or move. It is true! Let’s forget the chicken egg exploration about thoughts and feelings and just make it a point to do those healthy beneficial things that put us at optimum more of the time. You do want to feel better more of the time, don’t you?

When we feel optimum more of the time we do better more of the time.

Don’t try to bite off more than you can chew just make it a point to feel better a little bit more each day. When you do you will discover amazing things await you. You will think and feel and do better. If you fall off the positivity wagon don’t get all dramatic about it just get back on and proceed from there. Keep it simple, easy, manageable and keep doing it. Take baby steps in the direction of your dreams and keep taking them on a daily basis. Repetition is the mother of skill. Give birth to new habits by doing things that are good for you over and over and over again.

The change will take place inside you before you notice it on the outside. For mot of us the changes are gradual. Be patient, allow it, accept everything in a spirit of gratitude, and keep at it. Have fun, relax about it. It is much more FUN and easy when you let it be that way. So approach it in a light and gentle way.

Look at how you are thinking and feeling and behaving differently and more positively and nurture and encourage and celebrate this. Recognize and validate your positive baby steps!

Think Law of Attraction now. When you do these positive things you ARE vibrating more positively, more powerfully and energetically and so you attract, create or get back more of the same. It increases. Notice it and own your observations. Play with it and stay with it!

Allow yourself to move forward without judging or criticizing. Accept wherever you are along the way and have faith that as you continue to move forward in a positive way you will become more positive and more able. Your abilities will grow. Don’t be impatient. Stick with it and trust. Move forward with your eyes on what you are creating and attracting, not on whatever isn’t working right now. Celebrate all. Celebrate everything and you will get through the now and move into your dreams and make them come true.

Decree your destiny and make it happen. Build the image of what you want. See who you are, the positive powerful you. See what you are doing, behaving, how you are living and feeling wonderful. See what things you have included in your new life. Run these movies in your head. Infuse these images with positive wonderful feelings. It is the combination of the positive movies and positive feelings that work to make your future image come true.

A major point here: We already do this all the time. We think things good or bad and feel good or bad about them. For example, we fear something happening, we feel anxious about it or dread that something bad is going to happen. It does and we feel worse. We try to think positive and we do. As a result we feel a little bit better but then we think about something bad or how something is less than glorious and then we feel bad again. By doing this we create what we don’t want and we perpetuate it because we vacillate back and forth. We get hopeful and then doubt that things will change then feel bad and when things don’t change we think, ‘yup I knew it’. It is a form of self fulfilling prophecy. Our expectations were that it wouldn’t work out anyway. This limited thinking and lack of commitment keeps us where we don’t want to be.

This cycle keeps us in limbo:  We think about what we want and feel good for while. Then at some point we begin to doubt that we can get it and we start feeling bad about how we are not getting what we want. We then again think about what we want and feel worse because we feel far away. On another day we feel hopeful and positive and work towards what we want again, but then something happens and we feel feel bad and hopeless.  This goes on and on. We are like a ship tossed about on the sea, or a cork bobbing in the water. Instead of being in control and moving toward our destination we get closer and then move further away constantly. We never make any real motion towards accomplishing our goals.

We need to commit to what we want and concentrate on it to the exclusion of all else.

We need to stay focused on it no matter what else may currently be going on. We need to think again and again what we want and not let other thoughts intrude. To be able to do this means we have to take charge of our own thinking and feeling processes. For many people THIS CONEPT will seem most foreign because most of us do not grow up being told we are in charge. Instead we think ‘things happen’ and we have to feel certain ways because of these things happening. We don’t, we just think we do. That is why our problems are not the problem, but how we THINK about our problems IS the problem.

What we think about most often during the day is what we become and what we get. What we think about most of the time is what we become and what we get. Are we mostly positive or mostly negative, 51/49, 60/40, 80/20, 90/10? What we are mostly determines what we get. So decide to tip the balance in your favor. 50/50 keeps us exactly where we are. Move to 80/20 positivity.

You create your life by what you think and feel most of the time. It is a growth process. Just like growing a plant it takes time for it to get strong so be patient with yourself. It is most likely not going to happen over night, but then, who knows? Just remember, this is not a contest, you are simply out to improve your life and your conditions in a positive way so have fun and be positive about it.

Just keep advancing constantly in the direction of your dreams. Thoreau stated, ‘If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours’.

You can make your life anything you want it to be. Go ahead dream big that is fine. Just move forward toward your big dreams steadily. If you chose a big dream and you can’t yet believe you can make it happen, pick something smaller and more likely and go for that first. Better to trick yourself into it than out of it. If you pick something you don’t believe fully and you 50/50 vacillate on it you end up staying stuck. So pick something you can work on and get! Once you have that move on to something else. Create a track record of successes for yourself until you are ready to believe you can make the big one happen. Once you can conceive it AND BELIVE IT you can achieve it!

You can chose to do this. It is your life. You are the co-creator in your life. Ask yourself, “Where do I want to go from here?”

What do you want to be? What do you want to become? What do you want to do? What do you want to have? What is truly important to you?  If you could have the perfect life, where you had everything you want and all those around you had what they wanted, (no one is harmed or deprived by you getting your goals) what would it be like? Imagine it, live it in your mind’s eye, improve on the images, tailor the movie, and feel how good it feels to have all this?

THE FEELINGS ARE CRITICAL they drive the entire mechanisms. If you don’t feel like you deserve it, or that you can have it yet, or believe that will get it, you have other work to do first. If when you think about it you feel a huge YES inside and eagerly anticipate it coming to be, and you believe it and know that it will definitely happen, THEN that is for you. As long as everyone else experiences well being too you are on the right track.

Feelings are a signal for us. Our feelings let us know where we  need work or what we need to change. Less than glorious feelings are only an indication that something needs to change. It is a way to get our attention so we can get back on track, to feel better and feel more harmonious inside. We want to feel inner harmony with ourselves AND it is important to feel harmony with others as well. So don’t create waves for yourself or others. Use your feelings to guide you back to the positive. Take baby steps back towards feeling good.

Again, this is where you must, and ONLY YOU can, make changes to change things for the better. Take a walk, read inspirational material, talk it out and let it go, work in a garden, dance, if you hurt someone or are feeling guilty do whatever you can to repair the situation or make restitution, own up, sing, celebrate, shift into gratitude and focus on what can be done that is positive. Whatever baby step is necessary to free oneself from the less than glorious feelings and move incrementally toward more positive feelings you must take. You may only inch forward BUT that is valuable, inching forward IS what you want to be able to do.

Better to inch forward than remain stuck. So don’t worry about whether it is enough, just move forward.

So when feel down do something to feel better. If you feel angry or frustrated or guilty or confused there is something you can to do to feel better. Remember, take feelings as an SIGNAL that you can shift something you are thinking about, or focusing on, or doing.

At any moment you can decide to revolutionize your life.

You can ask yourself, ‘What can I do, what could I do, what should I do or what must I do, or what will I do that will move me closer to my dream?’ ‘What is the first step I can take to move me in a powerful positive direction?’ Ask yourself. Consider what small steps you can consistently take that move you closer to achieving your goal.

If it is going to happen it will be up to you and no one else. So you must engage these processes and do the work. I remind you to be gentle, have fun, notice what you notice, play and keep at it.

You have come this far. Perhaps, you went through some hell to get to today. No matter what you have gone through you have succeeded in getting this far. The journey continues and you can decide now where you want to go. Set a positive destination and go towards it. That is what explorers do. Sailors, pilots, vacationers, all decide where they want to go and then they go to it.

You will get there as long as you do not stop short. As long as you continue all along the way you will arrive at your destination. Whether the way there is delightful or not is also up to you. It is your decision. So decide now where you want to go and how you want to get there. Then do it and keep on doing it. Enjoy the adventure and make all your dreams come true.” Rex Sikes

Have an incredible day! Enjoy and make it wonderful for you and others.

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Persistence is the key to success.

ambition and action 2 steps to success

“It is the consistent, persistent, daily actions that bring success in all things, you family, your health, your wealth and career, your life. Daily dedication to doing something positive that moves you closer to your goal makes all the difference.

You start with a clearly, well stated ‘burning desire’, the mental images of your ultimate goal. You envision it daily (as often as possible, but at least for sometime in the morning and before going to sleep) and infuse it with positive energy and enthusiasm. You keep at it no matter what. You do not give up! You keep at it until you get it. This IS your daily regime. Your mental nutrition.

Keep your goal alive and in sight. Keep it burning and stay passionate about it. Believe in your heart and know in your mind that you will have it, YOU will ATTAIN it, as long as you never give up. Once you quit it is over, so you must not stop. You keep the faith and keep going no matter what is going on or not going on around you. You do not let present circumstances distract you from getting the end game that you want.

Keep this goal burning hot in your mind each moment. Focus on things to be grateful for and feel good about because when you do you are opening up your mind to discovering greater opportunities, events, situations and people that can help you reach your goal.

Your mind awakens and you can think more clearly and easily about how you will make it happen. You form plans using your creativity, your intuition and you smarts. You may have to adjust the plan as you go along that is just part of the process. Each day you move forward and you make adjustments as necessary but no matter what you keep moving forward toward your ultimate destination.

YOU WILL GET THERE as long as you keep going toward it. No matter how long it takes or how many detours there happen to be you will get there if you just never stop.

Persistence means you keep going even when you may not feel like going.

That is why it is important to find things you appreciate, small and large miracles and good and new discoveries, and the best thoughts and feelings along the way, so that you stay inspired and dedicated.

The person who succeeds is the person who ‘wills’ it to happen not who wishes it to happen. You make all the changes inside of you to be better equipped to handle all those aspects outside you you, the challenges and opportunities that come your way. You make all the changes inside of you to better manage the inside of you so you are optimistic, positive, powerful and committed to your outcome. You won’t do it if you wimp out.

Yes, occasionally someone lucks into it but frankly, most people who ‘make it’, who succeed in their personal or professional lives do so because the go after it relentlessly until they succeed. These people pursue health, wealth and well being because it is the most important thing to them. They don’t let circumstances dictate or prevent them from prevailing. ‘When the going gets tough the tough get going’.

You must stick with it no matter how impossible it seems. Whatever hardship comes your way learn to overcome it. Go through it. You will find a way if you are determined to find a way.

Manage you mind and you emotions. Manage your time and your efforts. You will do it, when you believe you can. As Napoleon Hill stated, ‘If you can conceive it and believe it you can achieve it’. Just don’t stop.

If it is truly worth it and it makes your life better and the lives of those around you better and it does not harm anyone of prevent others from fulfilling themselves, go for it. Get on course, stay the course and find out how to make the journey most delightful. Whether you get closer by leaps and bounds or inch by inch you are getting closer. Stay positive and stay focused. It is completely UP TO YOU! So do it! Just do it!

What can you do today to keep yourself on track? How many marvelous feelings might you discover as you look into finding these within you frequently during this day? How much fun can you stand as you continue to pursue your dream? Hmmmm, I wonder… ” Rex Sikes

Find those special moments in this day and have an incredible one!

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Don’t you want to feel better and better?

think positive

“It is not the mere repetition of affirmations or positive thoughts that make a difference. To think or say them aloud as if you are repeating the address to a business you want to find has little effect. There are two ways to make them work for you. One is to questions. Put the affirmation in the form of a question. Questions direct your mind to what you pay attention to. Use open ended questions such as, ‘I would how delighted I would be to discover how many things I can find to be thankful for today?’ or ‘In how many different ways am I a powerful, positive, person who can do what I put my mind to?’ Ask, be curious, be sincere and ask the questions anticipating that you will get an answer. It is not a yes or no answer you want, it is what you end up doing and thinking. Ask honestly, ask often and you will be surprised at how these work for you.

The other way is to infuse the affirmation with emotion. When you think or say the positive statement do so with energy, enthusiasm, determination, joy the best feelings you are able to. Feelings drive everything for us. That is why people make statements like, ‘I don’t feel like it’ or ‘It felt right’. We have gotten used to letting our feelings run the show instead of choosing to run our feelings.

The point of making affirmations with energy, or asking ourselves useful positive questions is not to find some pie in the sky magic but to take control of our thoughts and emotions and run our brains and behaviors instead of letting our brains, our thoughts and feelings run us. It is all about taking charge and determining how you want to experience the life you have. It is not about controlling world circumstances or other people or expecting things outside of you to change, rather, it is about controlling  and deciding your responses to everything so you can be and enjoy more of what you want.

Once you engage the decision making process for yourself and begin to think and feel positively you are better able to feel the way you want to feel, to do the things you want and need to d,o to get the results you want from your efforts. You begin to create the life you want and the world around you. NOT by magic but as a result of feeling better, thinking better, thinking clearer and working smarter and wiser.

Frankly, it is a choice and a question you can ask yourself, a number of questions. ‘Are you happy with life and where you are? Would you like to feel better? Could life be better? Could you enjoy things more?’ If you answer yes to any of these or variations of these then you might want to ask follow up questions such as, ‘How do I want my life to be? How would I like to feel more often? What do I really want? If I could create my own future what would I be like, what would I be doing, enjoying and having? What can I begin doing right now to start to feel and think better?’

Questions can be endless and you want to ask in order to find ways to think and feel better. It is good to be wise about the questions you ask yourself. ‘If you ask. ‘How come nothing ever goes right? or How can I be so stupid?’ you are not using very good taste or judgement. Ask good questions that lead you to where you want to go. Think and feel positive. Take charge.

The bottom line is either you will or you won’t. If you ask ‘what stops you from making positive decision to take charge of your thoughts and feelings right this moment’ you might get a useful answer. Or you can ask, ‘What can I do this instant and throughout this day and each day that would make me feel better, happier, healthier, more positive and powerful?’ ‘What can I do right now to make my life more of what I want it to?’

Direct your mind, direct you feelings and your life will change. Set the direction a positive one. WHY? Because it is a wiser choice than a negative one. Don’t you think? Ultimately, you are already deciding how you feel and live life but what you think this moment. If you could think and feel any way you wanted what would you chose? If it makes sense, doesn’t hurt anyone and would make things more enjoyable then go for it. Only you can determine when you will begin, what you will do and who you are.

The opportunity exists each moment to transform the moment into something marvelous. You don’t have to go about changing everything many things are incredible just as they are, but there are moments you can enhance and make more delightful when you want to. So what will it be?

Take charge of your thoughts and feelings. It is up to each of us to do it no one can do it for us. If you aren’t already being and feeling and having what you want make it a point to begin now. Or don’t, you can always keep putting it off and waiting for something to come along to change things. If you wait, one thing is certain, you will wait. And wait, and wait. So what positive practice can you implement to day? When will you begin to recognize that you are making decision each moment regarding how you think and feel about things?  You are already doing it. Now begin to take charge of the process so that it serves you in better ways and gets you more of what you want. You can transform your life into something much more wonderful, so won’t you?” Rex Sikes

My wish for you is to discover many wonderful things in this wonderful day.

 

 

Train Your Mind – It Works!!! Part 1

train your mind to see good

For some of us it is difficult to believe there is good in everything. Sometimes it seems there is just no good to go around, life is difficult and bad things happen.

I think of it this way. Before humans walked the planet events came and went. Some days were gorgeous some filled with calamity. Whatever happened happened. There was no one to label it, to judge it, to call it good or bad. Things occurred.

Some day I will take another form whatever that may be. I will no longer walk the planet so I won’t be around to comment on whether events are good or bad, right or wrong. They will go on without my commentary or criticism.

Since that is the case why should I waste my time while I am here. Isn’t there a better, a wiser use of my time? Wouldn’t I be better off not digging in despair whether the events are personal or global? Life is short. Life is way, way too short, as far as I am concerned, so I want to find a way to maximize the little time on the globe as best I can.

I decided at one time that if I was going to live on the planet I deserved to live in paradise. Whatever the situation is I wanted it to be paradise. What I found when I told others that many said it was not possible given the world and current state of affairs. They would say things like, ‘well there will always be suffering’. They said many things and I heard from many people through the years and the attitude seemed to be’ life was short, you struggle, try to be happy live a good life, hurt no one and die and hope there is an afterlife and that you may be rewarded’.

I thought this is not the way I want to go through my days. It took me some time, a lot of time actually, but one day I decided to decide how I wanted to think about things. I decided, whether it is accurate or not, that I create my experience. Yes, there is much scientific evidence to prove this to be true.  Regardless, of whether it is true or not I decided that I create my experience.

I determined I had created a lot of crap in my life and some good things. I looked at me, my life and it occurred to me that I always got what I wanted and what I thought about.

My worst fears seemed to come true. If I was anxious or depressed about something it was harder to move through the world. If I worried about money I never seemed to have enough. Perhaps, it was a chicken and egg thing, and I wasn’t sure what came first. Did I not have money so I worried about it or because I worried about money I never had any. I wasn’t certain, but I decided not to care.

I decided that I would control my thinking. I would endeavor to think the best about myself, my circumstances, my future, the people around me, my  family, friends, and even strangers. I would strive to maintain a positive focus. I would concentrate on finding the good in everything as much as I am able. I would find the best in everything and everyone.

It was not always easy, it still isn’t always easy. Sometimes there are challenges and it seems like I may lose my way. I get sidetracked or off course, caught up and I forget what is important and I get hooked. At some point I realize it is my decision. You know it is kind of like a guilty pleasure, but without the pleasure part. You know, , when you know you shouldn’t be doing something but you do it anyway.

Whatever it is,  maybe you shouldn’t have that extra helping but you just have too, or you sneak an extra piece of chocolate. You feel guilty. Maybe, guilty isn’t exactly the right word.  It isn’t guilt sometimes it is just that you just know there is a better way of being or thinking or behaving.  It is like that, at some point, I become aware that I am off base and I need to get back on. I know it is up to me.  Sometimes I don’t feel like correcting myself, but I do it anyway (because I have since learned how to). I course correct.

I have learned that just because things are going on around me that are not to my liking, even if everything is crumbling, I do not have to think negative thoughts, or feel bad or respond as I would have in the past. Oh, that was something else i did a lot of.  I used to live in the past aggrandizing the good old days or lamenting what was or what never came to be. I gave that up to.

I decided I need to change what I paid attention to. I realized FINALLY, that the past was over  and whether it was good or bad there was nothing I could do about it now. I could enjoy my present or not and I could plan my future or not but I could not do one thing about the past. It was over. SO I set my focus on what I wanted my future to be.

I began to think that where I am today is a result of everything I thought and felt and did or didn’t do in the past. My today is a product of my previous thinking. I am where I am because I created it. It didn’t matter to me, and it still doesn’t whether any of this is true or not. It doesn’t have to be true it really doesn’t. What it is – is useful. It is a frame of mind that I adopted as a choice so as to be able to have more control over what the results are in my life. True or not I don’t care.

So I decided to focus on where I want to be and create that instead. I focus on what I want and stay focused on that regardless of what is going on now. I imagine my future how I want it to be, I imagine I have it all in place, and this is what I concentrate on throughout each day.

In my mind I create the future I want to manifest. This was an incredible leap forward for me. Instead of living life looking back I started looking ahead. Instead of letting things happen to me I began to decide what I wanted to have happen. Instead of driving down the road looking in the rearview mirror I began to focus on my destination and how pleasantly I could get there.

I decided, I shouldn’t ignore the present that would be silly, I just don’t have to react to it as if I were a Pavlovian dog salivating to the ringing bell. I decided I would celebrate and appreciate the present. In order to that I had to think that it was worth it even when it may not seem that way. So I made it a point to look for whatever good I could find in whatever was going on and I would accentuate it.

If I experienced calamity and problems I would find whatever was good in the situation and accentuate that. Certainly, accentuating the problem or bad feelings didn’t make me think, feel or do any better but focusing on what was good did. I learned I could chose what I paid attention to. Even if my first thought was to find the bad my second thought became,  ‘ok what is good about this?’ I learned I could direct my thinking.

I found as I did this things changed for me. No, not over night but gradually. What I actually discovered was nothing changed in reality other than me and my relationship to reality and THAT actually did change everything. That may be a difficult sentence or concept to grasp right now but my life transformed.

I learned that whatever was going on I could decide how to feel and think about it. I was the one in charge. Just be cause bad things happened I didn’t have to chose to be unhappy. I lived that way for years, without choice, now I began to exercise my choices. When I became the person who chose what to think and feel yes everything changed for me.

I was clearer in my thinking, I enjoyed each moment more, I found more delight in simple things, I discovered opportunities I might not have otherwise, I felt better, I was open to more things, I met new people and engaged in new activities. It was as if a whole new world opened up.

And guess what, every moment I had to decide to chose. Things came up that would have caused me to feel bad and I chose not to. Some things came up and I found myself feeling bad and thinking less than glorious thoughts but when I realized what I was doing I steered my thinking and feeling back to finding the good, celebrating and appreciating and being positive.

It is a daily duty. Heck, maybe every second I am doing it.

I found it got easier and there were longer periods of time when I felt wonderful. The down times got shorter. I got better at recognizing when I was wallowing or not serving myself well. AND that is incredible!

I had decided to treat myself as God would have me be treated. Okay, I know some will bristol here because of whatever beliefs you may have, but I decided that if there is a God and God wants the best for me why shouldn’t I want the same for myself. I deserve to have all the wonderful things.

I discovered that the wonderful things don’t come from having more things. It comes from being more wonderful. It comes from having less stress, depression, anxiety, anger, frustration. It comes from taking the bull by the horns and deciding to do something for myself and to keep on doing it no matter what. I decided I would  never ever quit or give up. If I had to boot strap it I would, if the going got tough if I had to be tough I would get going. I decided that the end result was worth the price, whatever that price was I had to pay. AND it is!

I am getting so much more back than I pay for it is incredible!” Rex Sikes

More on this next time. Meanwhile have a fabulous day!